Molly Eichel

Staff Writer

Molly Eichel is an assistant features editor. She writes about film and television, and edits the Weekend section. Molly was born and raised in Philadelphia, where she spent a lot of time sitting too close to the television screen.

A 20-year-old woman struck hard with Bieber fever filed a paternity suit against teen heartthrob Justin Bieber, claiming he lost his virginity to her backstage at a concert and fathered her three-month-old baby, Tristyn Anthony Markhouse Yeater. The suit seeks financial support.

But keep cool, Bieber fanatics, this is not just another example of true lovegone sour. The suit says this all happened before Bieber's main squeeze, Selena Gomez, was in the picture.

Yeater testified in a California court, "On July 6, 2011, I gave birth to a baby boy. That was exactly 36 weeks and two days after the sexual encounter with Justin Bieber. Based upon the timing as well as the fact there were no other possible men that I had sex with that could be the father of this baby, I believe that Justin Bieber is in fact the father of my baby."

Bieber, 17, is, of course, denying the allegations. "It's sad that someone would fabricate malicious, defamatory and demonstrably false claims," Bieber's rep said in a statement. "We will vigorously pursue all available legal remedies to defend and protect Justin against these allegations." They also claim it would be impossible for Bieber to be alone backstage at a concert.

People reports that Yeater was whisked backstage by Bieber, who didn't want to use protection because it was his first time doing the deed. The magazine goes even further, claiming that Bieber's relations with Yeater could be construed as statutory rape. If the timeline on the lawsuit is correct, Bieber was only 16 when he and Yeater consummated their mutual attraction. The age of consent in California, where the suit was filed, is 18.

Is anyone else thinking what we're thinking? That this would make the best episode of "The Maury Show" ever?

We always thought of Bieber as centerfold poster of the tween set, so we're a little confused that a woman of Yeater's advanced years is a Bieber diehard. Then again, we also watched women uncomfortably close to our age swoon hard for the Canadian cutie in "Never Say Never," Bieber's better-than-we-thought-it-would be tour documentary. 12-year-old girls (and budding gay boys), you've got competition.

Justin is keeping calm, tweeting "all the rumors...the gossip....Im gonna focus on the positives....the music." He then linked to his new Christmas album that hit stores on Tuesday.

Could this all be a publicity-fueled rouse, an attempt for Justin to crossover into the adult market? In the Official Rock Star Rule Book that we just made up, you can't be an adult star until your first paternity suit. Just ask Michael Jackson: